Jail and a $10,000 fine: former political staffer shares fear over MP complaint system

An Australian parliamentary workplace watchdog was created to clean up bad behaviour in the seat of government – but some are questioning its efficacy

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Jenny* was warned she could face jail time if she spoke to anyone except a lawyer or a psychologist about a workplace complaint she made about her former boss.

The former political staffer is worried about publicly revealing details of her complaint against the federal parliamentarian, owing to heavy-handed gag orders that threatened to throw her in jail for six months and a possible $10,000 fine.